New Zealand police shot dead a woman who pointed a gun at officers as she held a man hostage inside a shop on Thursday in the Northland city of Whangarei, a police statement said, dpa reported.
The woman, said to be in her mid-30s and with her hair in dreadlocks, was reportedly carrying a rifle when she entered the mobile telephone shop.
The shop owner called police, and a member of the armed offenders' squad shot her as she opened the door and pointed her weapon at nearby police, news reports said.
The statement said that police tried to resuscitate the woman, but she died at the scene.